peltast

British

/ ˈpɛltæst /

noun

(in ancient Greece) a lightly armed foot soldier

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of peltast

C17: from Latin peltasta, from Greek peltastēs soldier equipped with a pelta, a small leather shield

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The critic is no hero: he is at best but a skipping peltast, engaged as often as not in inglorious flight.

From Project Gutenberg

Though his men were forming on the hill, Cleon fled as fast as he could on the approach of the enemy, but was pursued and slain by a Thracian peltast.

From Project Gutenberg

"No, nor yet a peltast"; but he had been ordered by his messmates to drive a mule, although he was a free man.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023